In the field of electronic arrangement and provision of financial services, typical financial services are offered by insurance firms, banks, stockbrokers, fund management companies, leasing firms, building societies, etc. In particular in the field of insurance-related financial services, different marketing approaches exist for the arrangement of these financial services between the actual financial services firm and the end customer. One of these marketing approaches, which has gained in significance in the course of a liberalization of the insurance industry, is that of so-called independent agents (brokers, multiple agencies, marketing companies). An agent of this kind can offer an end customer, and arrange, financial services from a number of different financial services providers (insurance firms). Typically, an independent agent has up to 30 different insurance company partners whose financial services he can make available.
In addition to this marketing approach of the independent agent, there are also exclusive agents who offer the financial services only of one specific financial services provider (insurance firm). However, the market share of this marketing approach is of diminishing significance.
A voluminous exchange of data naturally takes place between independent agents and the various insurance firms in terms of the arrangement and execution of the financial service, which exchange should actually be performed electronically. However, it must be borne in mind that on the one hand the insurance firms normally use proprietary management systems, i.e., software installations which have not been individually created and thus are largely non-uniform. On the other hand, different agents, for example for the inventory management of the independent agent. These different types of agent management software also differ from one another and are in no way standardized. It is thus true to say that at the present time no standardized electronic communication takes place between insurance companies and independent agent.
As will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 of the attached drawings, the situation in the present-day insurance market is such that the exchange of information between insurer and independent agent substantially takes place on the basis of paper-based manual processing.
FIG. 4 shows in particular that independent agents who offer a large number of insurance companies to end customers provide for a virtually arbitrary number of communications channels.
The paper-based manual processing according to the prior art will now be explained with reference to FIG. 5. When a proposal for insurance is to be made, the independent agent 3 enters the appropriate data in his agent management program 16. In parallel thereto, the proposal is manually recorded and sent in paper form (hard copy) 17 to the insurance company 1. At the insurance company, in a further manual entry step the proposal in paper form from the independent agent 3 is entered in the management program (proprietary software) 13 of the insurance company 2. This takes place using an appropriate workstation computer 15. Finally, the issued policy is sent by mail to the agent 3 who extracts the relevant data therefrom and enters it again manually in his agent management program 16.
In this way, forms are provided, supplied updated, completed and dispatched with a high outlay in terms of personnel and time on both sides, i.e., both on the part of the independent agent and on the part of the insurance company. At the respective other end, the forms are then received, distributed, checked for content and organizationally processed by independent agent and insurance company. The thus initiated and completed process must also be recorded by both parties in accordance with data technology. This paper-based manual processing has disadvantageous consequences both for the independent agent and for the insurance company. Thus, in the main business procedures of proposal processing, inventory processing, issuing of policies, calculation of brokerage/commission and settlement of claims, this technique leads to problems in the service provision process, which can be expressed by the following parameters:                low process quality due to faulty data input;        high error and complaints quotas;        long throughput times etc.        
In the document and information management, this paper-based manual technique has disadvantages in terms of the supply, printing costs, and postal dispatch of forms, documents and other written documentation. This leads to a lack of customer satisfaction and high costs in the service provision process. In summary, the reasons for these disadvantages are that no standardized data formats are available in association with the multiple agency marketing approach, these are incompatible for information systems of insurance companies, and the data processing methods both of the insurance companies and of the independent agents (agent management programs) are heterogeneous. As stated above, independent agent and insurance company consequently cannot communicate with one another by electronic means (with the exception of specific 1:1 links).